


Log Date

by TheGabbing



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amedot if you squint, Angst, Character Death, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 02:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5147447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGabbing/pseuds/TheGabbing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>“Steven called this </i>summer<i>, though I still do not know what it means. He told me that it has been a year since I was captured by the crystal gems. A year, apparently, is what humans call when the earth goes all the way around their star. I find it weird that Steven is now preparing for my birthday but Amethyst assured me it would be better if I just allowed it to happen. She did not look happy when I said I did not want to participate. Garnet told me I had to.”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Log Date

**Author's Note:**

> PERIDOT DESERVES AN AMAZING REDEMPTION ARC AND IF SHE DOESN'T GET IT I WILL CRY.
> 
>  
> 
> *added comment March 5 - after the latest Steven bomb, a lot of the things in this fic doesn't line up to canon but I still think it's a good read

Steven sighed as he continued to sort through the closet. Honestly, he should have cleaned it out years ago, but since the fight with Yellow Diamond Steven couldn’t open the closet without thinking about Peridot. She had spent two years with them, moving from the bathroom into the closet, and learning how to be kind. She learned that Pearl wasn’t _just_ a pearl, Amethyst wasn’t defective and Garnet was not some war machine that needed to be torn apart. She had actually become a Crystal Gem.

But even though it had been years, Steven couldn’t look into the closet without feeling a pain in his chest. He sighed and reached in to lug a box of Peridot’s tapes out of the closet. She had kept every single one, refusing to get rid of any of them. He remembered when he used to hear her listening to the old ones and whisper about how stupid she was. She refused to talk about it whenever Steven brought it up.

The box caught on the edge of the closet. Steven pulled against the box, only for the box to collapse and all of the tapes fall to the ground. Steven went to grab the tape recorder that had fallen out when static came through the player.

“ _Log date… Oh, clod, it doesn’t matter now does it?”_ The recording started. It was Peridot. She sounded exactly like Steven remembered, like she was pretending to be a ball of rage even though she couldn’t hurt a fly without her limb enhancers. “ _Steven called this_ summer _, though I still do not know what it means. He told me that it has been a year since I was captured by the crystal gems. A year, apparently, is what humans call when the earth goes all the way around their star. I find it weird that Steven is now preparing for my_ birthday _but Amethyst assured me it would be better if I just allowed it to happen. She did not look happy when I said I did not want to participate. Garnet told me I had to._ ”

“ **Peridot? Are you still making logs? You know you don’t have to, right?** ” Steven heard the recording repeat. It was very quiet, like the person was far away from the recorder, but Steven could tell it was Pearl.

“ _I – I am not!”_ Peridot yelled. There was a little scuffle and then a slam before Peridot started speaking again. “ _In the past year, the Crystal cl – Crystal Gems have been kind to me. I didn’t think it was possible for any Gem to be kind to a Peridot but from this evidence it is clear that is not true. I’ve begun to think something odd. Perhaps… Perhaps Rose Quartz was right when she rebelled. I like Earth. If… If had emerged before the war, I would like to believe I would have been on Rose Quartz’s side, though I know that wouldn’t have happened._ ”

There was a long silence, filled with muffled sounds of Pearl talking to someone outside of where ever Peridot was before she sighed. “ _Peridot. Earth. End log._ ”

Steven stood silent for a moment. The tape hummed with static of the rest of the tape. Very gently, as if he would break the recorder if he didn’t, he picked up the machine. Six years. It had been six years since Peridot made that recording but it felt like she was right next to him. Steven quickly ran up the stairs to his ‘bedroom’ and grabbed one of the mostly empty boxes he had laying around. He gently stacked all of the tapes that had fell into the box before he walked back up the stairs and put them on his bed.

Most of the tapes had labels, from log numbers to random words. Steven popped out the tape out of recorder and smiled. The label was written in Peridot’s methodical handwriting, clear lines spelling out _summer birthday_. Steven put the tape on his night stand before he looked through the rest of the tapes. There were some that confused him, with labels like _pi_ and _evil_ but others made him grin. He grabbed one of the tapes he liked the label of and pushed it into the recorder.

“ _Log date… Rain. It is raining on this rotation, or day as Steven calls it. Steven explained this concept to me when I was first captured. It still fascinates me.”_ In the background Steven could hear the pattering of rain on a surface, the rolling of thunder in the distance. “ _I am outside currently. Steven seems to be worried about me. He continually paces and comes out to check on me periodically. He seems to believe I will fall off the roof or will get injured in some way. I don’t believe that would be possible. And even if the impossible were to happen… it would not be that terrible. Steven has healing powers like all Rose Quartz gems do, he could help. And if he could not… I would be able to accept that too. I finally feel as if I am on the right side.”_

“ **Peridot! Please come in! Your favourite TV show is on.** ” Steven could hear himself call on the recording. He smiled at his voice, young and unsure. It was interesting to hear how he had changed.

“ _With the objects producing liquid from their eyes?_ ” Peridot asked. There was a small muffled mumble in the background before the recording clicked off.

Steven wiped the tears from his face before he took out the recording and placed it with the other tape on his bedside table. He looked at the tapes on his bed, searching for one that was intriguing. He started to separate them into piles. Ones that he knew what they were about, things he didn’t understand, and the ones he wanted to listen to.

“ _Log date … first mission.”_ There was a pregnant pause, almost as if Peridot was preparing herself for what she was going to say. “ _Today, I helped. The Crystal Gems – yes, Gems – took me on one of their_ missions _. They were hunting a corrupted gem and they thought I could help with locating it. They were correct. As a Peridot, I was able to feel the corrupted Peridot in the area. It was interesting. I got distracted and led the Gems into a trap. The corrupt Gem had used its advanced thinking process to lure us in. I should have noticed. But I didn’t. The Crystal Gems did not blame me like I thought they would have. It was odd. When the Crystal Gems had destroyed the Gem’s physical form, Garnet asked if I wanted to bubble the corrupted gem. It was… nice._ _Peridot. Earth. End log_.”

Gathering up the tapes he put into the ‘to watch’ pile, Steven walked to temple door. The door opened to the basement. Steven stepped through and walked over to the corner of the basement. There was a small pillow in the corner right beside a rose colored bubble. Steven sat down on the pillow and put his hand gently on the bubble.

“Hey, Peridot. I finally got around to cleaning your closet. I found your recordings. I thought we could listen to them together. It felt weird listening to the recordings alone.” Steven said softly. He watched the shards closely, hoping beyond hope that something would happen. Steven sighed and put in a new recording.

“ _Log date … fusion. Garnet explained to me what true fusion meant a while ago. I had asked her why Ruby and Sapphire stayed fused when there was no danger. I didn’t get it at the time but… but now I think I understand. Steven was upset today, the Connie couldn’t come over because she had school, so Amethyst wanted to cheer him up. She had asked me to help her. I obliged. Amethyst told Steven I did not know how to_ dance _which was true. After Steven and Amethyst showed me how, I danced with them. And… somehow I accidentally fused with Amethyst. It hadn’t lasted long, we were both shocked and not compatible at the moment, but I had… I had felt what Garnet was talking about. Love… I thought it was only a human emotion. I was wrong. I think I might… After everything is over I think I might talk to Amethyst… I think I just might._ ”

He smiled down at Peridot’s Gem shards and thought about all the times he’s walked in on Amethyst looking at them. Sometimes he could hear her talking to Peridot when he was in his mother’s room. It got him thinking on what would have happened if Peridot hadn’t shattered while fighting Yellow Diamond… If he could have been fast enough to protect her. Steven wiggled down into the pillow and ran his hand through his hair. He couldn’t blame himself, although he did for a while after it had happened. It wasn’t his fault, he knew better now. He sighed and put in the new tape, in hopes it would cheer him up.

“ _Log date_ –”

“ **Peridot, where are you?** ” Young Steven said in the recording.

“ ** _Please come out, Peridot._** ” Pearl begged.

There was some muffled movement before Peridot started speaking again. “ _I messed up. Again. I don’t think I can recover from this incident. The Crystal Gems and I were on a mission, they have begun to take me with them on their missions regularly. Steven was in trouble and I attempted to protect him. The corrupted Gem destroyed my physical form. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, when I reformed physically, Steven had hugged me. He told me that I shouldn’t put myself in danger. Before I could stop myself, I told him that he was my family, I always would._ ”

“ **Peridot, why are you hiding?** **You don’t have to hide.** ”

“ ** _Steven, it’s late, you should sleep. Don’t worry, I’ll find her._** ”

“ **Promise?** ”

“ ** _Like she said, she’s our family now, of course I will._** ”

There was some sniffling in the background before the tape faded to static. Steven sighed and reached over to Peridot’s bubble, cupping it gently in his hands. “You know, you still are part of our family. Pearl and Garnet come down here to see if anything changed in your shards. I know Pearl is still looking at Rose’s research to see if there is anything I can do to help you. Amethyst talks to you a lot. We all talk about you too.” Steven could feel tears fall from his eyes and he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve. He wrapped his arms around the bubble, hugging it as tight as he could without the threat of it breaking. “Okay, last one, Dot! You labeled this one as Final.”

“ _Log date 0. Peridot. Earth. I’ve spent more than two years on this planet, and two years learning about it with the Crystal Gems. Earth has more potential than any planet I have ever seen before. There’s so many different creatures all varying in intelligence. Each human has its own individual personality. They do what they want because it’s what they want to do, not because it was what they were assigned or made for. Not like it is on Homeworld. I was right to help the Crystal Gems stop the Cluster from emerging last year. And I am right now. Garnet informed us that a ship is circling Earth. I was able to confirm it was Yellow Diamond’s. Apparently, she realized the cluster did not emerge. Pearl is currently fighting with Steven. He wants to stay and fight Yellow Diamond like he fought Jasper and I two years ago. I agree with Pearl. It is much too dangerous for him. Amethyst and Garnet are staying out of it. I believe they agree with Pearl as well. Beach City has been evacuated, which seems to be the norm for this town. The human known as Greg, or Dad, is waiting for the Gems and Steven to decide if he is evacuating too. The Crystal Gems have done everything in their power to ensure the humans they protect are not hurt. It is admirable. This will be my last log. Whether or not I survive is irrelevant to this fact. I thought… I thought these logs would perhaps help me if Yellow Diamond ever captured me. I used to think that it would prove that the Crystal Gems brain washed me and I would not be punished as harshly. But I was wrong. The Crystal Gems have done nothing but be kind to me. So if I do shatter or I am captured by Homeworld, I want this to be on the record.”_

_“I, Peridot 68291, am a Crystal Gem. And I will fight for my family because they taught me how to be me.”_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, kudos, and bookmark if you liked it! I'm on tumblr at thearoace.co.vu
> 
> Logs and their labels, because I thought this might be amusing.
> 
> Log 1 - Summer Birthday  
> Log 2 - Fascination  
> Log 3 - I helped  
> Log 4 - Maybe  
> Log 5 - No  
> Log 6 - Final


End file.
